Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play

"Tiger Woods 09 is a winner...despite the putting"

Tiger Woods 2009 is a great game. It's a game for those who love golf and actually believe that it's a sport and those, like myself, that know the truth (it's a game of skill like bowling). As you can tell I'm not a big golf fan, but that's why I'm so impressed with this game. It's pure fun and one of the best games currently available for the Wii. In short, this game is worthy of best "Sports" Game of 2008 and one of the best sports game for the Wii in 2008.

Graphics 9/10
Disclaimer
I'm not going to compare this games graphics to the 360 or the PS3. A lot of people do that and it's really unfair. It's like comparing a lightweight with a heavyweight. The heavyweight should win every time, after all he has more weight behind his punches and skilled enough to negate a lightweights speed. So I'm just going to compare this games' graphics to others available on the Wii; or, sticking with this analogy, lightweights to fellow lightweights.

And yes, lightweights can bulk up and heavyweights can lose weight, but humor me for a moment. I'm just keeping things simple.

The game is gorgeous. The golfing range is awesome. The mountains, the lakes, the greens, it all looks good. Good work EA! The Create-Your-Golfer feature is great. There you control everything from your characters skin tone to every aspect of your characters facial features and body size. In other words, you got a good shot at creating just about any character that you want. You have plenty of accessories to add including hats, jewelry, style of club and golf balls, wristbands, etc. I must admit surprisingly, the accessories options for a female player are relatively small. This would have been a great option to add free downloadable content to the game.

The reason I did not give it a 10 is due to minor features in the background. The greens themselves are nice, but it almost seems to me that there should have been more spectators in the background. The once, or twice, you do see someone in the background it's the same guy that's sitting in the stadium or arena in many of EA'S PS2 games. The background lacks interactivity. For example, one of the pre-introductory animations is to clean the area around the ball, but there's really nothing to clean. It's just green pavement (or grass). Also, there's really no distinction from the "thick rough" versus the tall grass. I say that because one will still allow you to hit the ball as hard and the other won't.

Music 8/10
I'm not going to say the music is good or bad. It's a lot of smooth listening and elevator music. No rap, hip-hop, rock, or metal. Appropriate for a golf game, IMO. Kelly Tilghman and Sam Torrance aren't bad but their repertoire needs more work, (at least she's not telling lynching jokes). On a side note the "caddy", the announcer introducing your upcoming hole is very informative and I highly suggest you listen to him. He does provide hints on the upcoming hole that can prove to be very useful. I wish they did not get cut him off at times though.

The game also adds interesting background noises including a plane flying overhead and a toilet. You can't see it, but someone is flushing it. I think its hilarious myself, but don't worry it's not too distracting.

Controls 8/10
I must say Wii Sports Golf implements the golf swing better. I'm not saying it's a better game, I'm just saying the controls were better and I wish EA started from there. You'll really notice it when using the standard and advanced swings. Unlike Wii golf its not quite 1:1, but you wouldn't notice unless you played both games back to back. When you need to put power into your swing you definitely can. The problem becomes when you need to swing at 40-60%. It gets real tricky even if you played the game for a while. To alleviate this headache you can take advantage of the Practice Swing. There you can find your swing and hit the ball as appropriate. Again this is tricky if you're not careful. Remember how you swung the remote as that 60% swing you need can be as soft as 35% or as hard as 80%. That being said EA did a great job. It's not perfect but it's definitely not broken either.

Now for the putting…
You're initial reaction is to think that it's great or you'll hate it. Keep in mind, that this game is not Wii Sports Golf. If you're expecting a natural follow through motion, you will be disappointed. Instead, what you get is a mini game. It takes a while to figure this out but the sooner you do the more enjoyable the game becomes. In my opinion, its too much information that it allows you to calculate and the game forces you to take that approach. In a nutshell, given the angle of the slope of the green (left right, back and forth) you have to match the power of your swing to the appropriate distance to get the ball in the hole. The advantage is, if you master it (given that you can only use swing preview once per shot while putting) your putting game becomes incredible. Getting eagles and birdies become easy. However, if you don't the game comes off as broken. Is the system "fair"? I suppose. Is it intuitive? No. EA will have to work on that for next year. At the very least a follow through mechanic should be optional.

So, what if you're not trying to do all of that and don't want to use the Standard or the Advanced controls. Well then there is All-Play. All 3 modes offer a landing circle and does allow you to curve your shot to the left or right but All-Play shows you, based on how hard you hit the ball and the loft where your ball will land and how it will bounce. This is great especially if you land (or want to avoid) water hazards, bad rolls, out of bound shots and even proximity to the flag. Basically it's cheat mode. It is what it is, but it's also informative.

All-Play Mode does have its disadvantages. For example, All-Play will not reward sloppy play. If you need to hit the ball at 100%, it will do so with a natural swing motion. On the other hand, if you want to hit the ball at 50% and you perform the same motion, it will overshoot. Also, you really can't hit the ball over 100%. When you want to or need to out drive your opponent you really can't. You'll have to switch to Standard and Advanced mode to do that. Another disadvantage is that its actual more difficult to hole in one, eagle or chip-in using All-Play, believe it or not. Sure you can do it, but it's not a guarantee. You'll notice that the ball may get close and may even hit the flagpole but it may not go in. It's a great equalizer going against a pro, but in the wrong hands, it's just not fair.

Online 8/10
The controls playing online are not different but you no longer have access to use All-Play mode and you have 30 seconds to take your shot. This is actually enough time, however I suggest you get comfortable with putting if you're a newbie. Judging angles and speed is not pretty while measuring the amount of power if the clock is pressuring you.

You can play ranked or unranked match with up to four players but be careful as the can freeze during game play. You can play with your created golfer or one of the many available on the game. Unfortunately, you can't see their golfer, but you can see where they hit the ball. You can "watch" them if you get the ball in first, but that's nothing more than watching multi-colored streaks rolls through the grass.

Game Modes and Replay Ability
Score 9/10
The game offers plenty of game modes including a career, tutorial, online, and a party mode. Party mode can easily keep your invited (or uninvited) guests busy offering 15 different games including a challenging and yet beautiful mini-golf course. The tutorial mode not only helps you learn the nuances of the game, but if you don't like your club settings just go into the pro shop and you can fix them. And if you want more options, you can edit your golfer, change the golf clubs s/he carries and even its (you, your golfer) golf swinging. If you don't want to use a created golfer you have still have still have most major golfer available. However, you'll have to unlock during the FedExCup playoffs or the Tiger Challenge (this where you really need to work on that putting game).

Career mode offers a lot of events with some glaring omissions, the Masters and the Ryder Cup. I'm not a golf fan, but I do know these are two of the PGA's biggest events. Perhaps this is something EA can secure next year, but I felt it necessary to mention this if you expected to play this game and win a yellow jacket.

Game Score: 8/10
Buy versus Rent: Buy
All-Play can be a blessing or a curse (I wouldn't want it used online and for the sake of fairness Nintendo wisely kept it off). The 1:1 mechanic is good, but not quite perfect. The putting keeps this game from being a perfect 10. Again it's good when you get the hang of it, but Wii Sports Golf had a more intuitive implementation.

Overall this is a great game and definitely a must have for those that love playing golf on the Wii. It's definitely a game you can jump in and play with your friends on or offline. It may not look as good as the 360 and PS3, but the wiimote allows you to play the game better. In fact, because of the wiimote, it's the best version of the game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/08, Updated 11/17/08

Game Release: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play (US, 08/26/08)